Friday, April 11, 2014

Meet Maxton, my busy, adorable, and always hungry one year old nephew. Last year, Maxton celebrated his 1st birthday. My sister and I worked on the banner and the cupcake toppers for his party, which was held at Gymboree Play & Music. This place is awesome! They pretty handle all the entertainment for the kiddos. It's actually not the first time we have had a party at Gymboree Play & Music. Back in 2010, we held Dru and Miles (Maxton's older brother) party there. We were so impressed with their services, we went back. Totally recommend to any parents looking for a great and affordable way to throw a hands on, interactive party for young kids. Anywho, here are some pics.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I was so close to thinking that all of my Valentine's Day plans weren't going to happen. After Snowmageddon, we were sure that Atlanta was finish with our winter weather storms. Well, that was totally not the case. Two weeks after the snow storm, Atlanta was hit with an ice storm. This time, the city was a little more prepared; schools closed before the ice rain fell and people didn't go work. This instantly made it a better situation on the interstates. However, the heavy ice on power lines caused widespread power outages across the metro Atlanta, including us.

We had no power for two days, which felt like an eternity. We were so unprepared. We went shopping a few days before the ice storm hit to stock up on some supplies and firewood. Everywhere we went was sold out of all firewood as well starter logs. We were able to find two logs at Kroger and quickly scooped them up, thinking that if the power does go out, it won't be for very long. We were wrong.

My husband is awesome! He immediately went into military mode, taking inventory of everything we had in the house and looking at what we had in the garage that could be burned. He went out onto the icy roads, purchased some charcoal and grilled chicken and cornbread so his family could have a hot meal. Love this man SO much! He definitely made sure that his family was taken care of and I love him for that!

Well, day two (February 13) of no power rolled around, and we were getting ready for the night fall and I was getting more upset that the Valentine's Day party I had planned for the kids was not going to happen. And just as night fall fell, the power returned. We were all so happy! And I immediately got to work on all of my unfinished projects. So, here it is, a little late, but our Valentine's Day 2014.

I made the centerpiece from handmade paper rosettes and some Valentine stickers.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Last year, Dru got his first pair of glasses. He's been going to a pediatric ophthalmologist for the past 2 years, but no glasses were ever needed. So, last year's exam, we found out that our little man needed glasses. I was so nervous. Dru is a busy little boy. He is very active and is in constant motion. So, when we found that he needed glasses, we immediately thought, "He's going break them."

I am an optician. So am extremely familiar with fitting glasses for all sorts of face shapes. Because my little man is a busy body, and glasses can get expensive, we decided to order his glasses online. There are so many great online retailers and we had ordered online in the past for daughter who has been wearing glasses for about 4 years now. After a little research, we came across Coastal. The best part about Coastal is your first pair is FREE!!! How awesome is that? There is a certain selection of free frames and a few guidelines, but overall, we were very happy with our purchase. We made a few upgrades to his lenses, like adding an anti reflective coating, which made our out of pocket only $50. That price you can not beat. So, long story short, my husband photographed Dru in his new specs.

September 2013

Look for him on the cover of GQ Magazine, Year 2032

Dru and Kaira reading their favorite books, Harry Potter and If You Give a Dog a Donut

So...having read earlier that Dru is a rambunctious little tyke, did you really think that would be the end of his eyeglasses journey? After having his new glasses for only a week, he left on the floor and Daddy stepped on them, breaking off one of the temples. Were we surprised and upset, no. I just didn't expect it to happen that quickly.

So, here we are Round 2. This time I purchased glasses at my job, and made sure that I purchased an extended warranty. Thus far, we have not had to redeem the warranty and he looks so cute in his new glasses. Check him out.

Round 2

I told ya'll to look for baby in GQ Magazine :)

Dru being Dru...love this little boy!

Check out the temples on his glasses, red, gray and black checkerboard

I bought these adorable buttons at the Children's Museum, they are so punny

Well, that's all for now. I'll keep you all posted on Dru's eyeglass journey over the year.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Yeah, that's right, it's 4712! Well, at least it is on the Chinese calendar. The Chinese New Year is celebrated much longer than our one night of fun. Elaborate costumes are worn and food is continuously served to commemorate the special occasion. The festivities usually last for 15 days, each day serving a specific reason for the celebration.

With the change of the year, comes the change of the year's astrological sign. And just as we believe in our zodiac signs affected our mannerisms, behavior and love life, so does the sign for the Chinese. In addition to the astrological sign change, comes the change of the element. There are 5 elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. This year is the year of the fire horse. We tend to take our zodiac sign in good fun, but it's a different story for the Chinese. They honestly believe that the year of their child's birth will affect that child for the rest of their life. There is a great chart with the Chinese astrological signs on Wikipedia. Take a look and find out what your sign is, see if you have any symptoms of your sign.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The entire city is at a standstill. Interstates are closed, schools are closed, businesses are closed and everyone is in their homes, just trying our best to stay warm. We rarely see snow in the south and when it falls, it falls hard. It's so beautiful and the adults are outside with the kids because we haven't seen much of it in our own lifetime. But with this beautiful snow comes A LOT of trouble. Just take a look...

All those cars and none are moving, they are stuck, gridlocked, not able to make it home. Eventually, everyone gets frustrated and unsure of what to do next and what do they do...abandon their cars and walk to the closet hotels and hope that tomorrow will bring a warmer day to melt the ice and snow. That's right, Atlanta isn't moving, literally. All the major interstates look like giant long parking lots. Kids having to spend the night at school with teachers, people spending 20 plus hours in their cars, those traveling to local fire and police stations to spend the night. We are so thankful that we were all able to get home and spend the night together.

We were able to get outside with the kids and take some pics of our yard.

This is a view of our street.

It started as a light dusting and continued to get worse. Here is my husband leaving for work, but he eventually turned back around, not being able to get very far.

Icicles I broke off the car

The kids did enjoy themselves. We walked around the corner to my sister's house and hung out for a while, until we decided it was getting too cold. We also found ourselves without the appropriate cold weather gear. The last time that it snowed like this was three years ago. It's just not cost efficient to purchase snow gear for the kids; by the time they get to were it again, they would have out grown it.